MAXX-Alec Bradley "The Culture"

Size: 61/2 x 54
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Maduro
Binder: Costa Rican
Filler: Columbian, Nicaraguan, Mexican, Honduras
Body: Full
Strength: Full side of Medium

This cigar used for this review should have been dubbed "The Trunk", I will expound on that a bit later. The particular cigar smoked is quite a start for the Smoke Reviews blog. Let me know if the photos show up too large, they have been resized to be smaller, but on my computer they are still full size.

As you can see by the photo, this beautiful maduro cigar has a gorgeous oily wrapper. This is a rather large stick, in my XL hands, I am amazed at this 54 ring gauge piece of work. I did not have any humidor rest as I was anxious to put a flame to this one. So it was lit up 2 days after receiving it. Which happened to be around 8 pm during the fires here in San Diego. With our Suburban packed and ready, my wife and I were ready in case we had to evacuate.

The stick is very firm, it feels tightly packed and it seemed a bit dry, but then again this did not have any time in my humidor. With the cam clipped and the foot toasted, this started up quickly with smooth smoke on the dry side. The draw was extremely firm and did not produce much smoke. So the first two inches was a lot of work.

The starting flavors created a smoke containing a sweetness in its depth and was encased in cocoa and coffee flavors. A mastered maduro cigar that is a work of a master.

The burn on this entire cigar was perfect, the ash was gray and held firm, it needed to be tapped to release its hold on the cigar. As far as ash goes, I have a habit of dropping it at half an inch. For reviews I may let it remain until it drops on its own. This one held for about 1.5 inches before I dropped it.

Through the body of the cigar, the flavors were consistent with the start, the only addition was an earthy leather to accompany the cocoa and coffee. This stick smoked cool and never tainted. I would classify this cigar as full body with a medium to full strength. Great for those looking to try a full body flavor with out the punch. I always recommend eating before smoking any cigar of any strength.

Now onto MAXX by Alec Bradley "The Trunk"

After 2 inches of smoking I started to notice a small poke on the tongue that was like the tip of a toothpick. That small little poke turned out to be a vein that seemed rather thick to be used in a cigar that is supposed to be made by expert rollers.




I did not think too much of this as it was easy to remove, but the draw was still firm and I was tiring out from trying to get a descent amount of smoke from the cigar. As luck would have it, I felt another twig in the cap of the cigar, I looked and saw a thicker vein, little did I know the joy I would have working on the cigar.

As you can see this is no ordinary vein.

I continued to work on removing the twig while I smoked this cigar. This is no longer just a vein.

The stick continued to grow and the draw was opening up a bit. The flavors remained the same.

This branch was irritating to be working on, but at this point there is no turning back and I was not going to give up smoking this cigar.

This tree "Trunk" was a challenge in a few ways, it caused a bad draw, it was poking my tongue, and it took a great amount of work to remove it without destroying the cigar.

Once the "Trunk" was removed the cigar opened up and produced an incredible amount of thick flavorful smoke. It was the same flavors as it started but richer. Look at the hole now in my cigar.

This "Trunk" ran almost the entire length of the cigar, by the time I had it removed it was just over the 4 inch mark and the edge furthest in the cigar was tinged from being burned.

This cigar must have been rolled by a disgruntled employee. So Alec Bradley, you need better quality control and a happier work place. A craftsman that can make a cigar look this good does not just roll a cigar and happen to not notice a tree trunk is in there. Although entertaining, this is also a waste of my money and looks bad for Alec Bradley.

My final thoughts on the MAXX by Alec Bradley. This is a great tasting cigar and looks fabulous. I would compare the flavor profile to the Gurkha Legend Perfecto I smoke the day before. With age I will return to this review with an update, probably in 6 months. Being that I found this cigar so similar to Gurkha Legend Perfecto, I will be smoking both of them around the same time to really get a better idea if the two are as much alike as I remember. I always enjoy finding a cigar that is similar to another but at a cost that is so much less.

I recommend this cigar to both beginners and experienced.